Lisa, I've read that women who've had preeclampsia have a lower risk of breast cancer, but I've never seen any information (or even speculation) to explain why. It could be just a statistical thing. Anyway, you're right that some cancer drugs fight tumors by blocking the growth of blood vessels that serve the tumors. So I guess what we need is "anti-chemo" especially for the placenta![:)]

So our body secrets a protein that inhibits that blood vessel growth in the placenta much like a cancer drug inhibits tumor growth?

I probably oversimplify, but could that mean we have decreased risk of cancer? Are we extra sensitive to tumor-like activity? Not that I like to think of a placenta of having anything to do w/a tumor, but isn't the implantation & growth process of the placenta very similar to tumor growth?

We deserve something here...at least to counter the increased risk of heart disease!!

In a prepared statement, Duane Alexander, MD, director of the NIH's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development calls Karumanchi's findings "the most promising lead yet in the pursuit of a life-threatening disorder that has defied all attempts to prevent or cure it." Alexander was not involved in the study, but researchers at his agency were.

We have had to sit on this news for a few days now...which as you can imagine is very tough for us!! The attached link is one of the best of the articles out there about the news and we will follow-up shortly with an interview with Dr. Karumanchi who is a professional member of the Preeclampsia Foundation and who passionately supports our work.

The reality is that this study may have identified proteins which are present in women with preeclampsia but not those without. That would mean that a blood test might be able to predict who will and won't get preeclampsia. I think though, the bigger challenge we face (when the time comes) is figuring out who gets this blood test and who pays for it. Right now we all know of stories of women having to insist on a proteinuria test being taken...so not to downplay this work at all...because we are all very excited about what it might mean and more than anything about the energy that it will mean is now focused on preeclampsia...but the reality is that for the meantime, we still have to be our own best advocates, we still have to be vigilant, and we still have to watch out for the women around us who are pregnant and have never heard of the disease.